When was the last time you felt depressed? What event occurred that made you sad or angry? Dwelling on thoughts of rejection or potential rejection causes a chemical reaction in your brain that lowers endorphins in the brain. The earlier in life you feel rejected, the deeper your depression is, which has been well researched. I found that my depression went away when I dealt with my upsetting thoughts and memories of rejection.
Most depression episodes begin with your thoughts. The good news is that you control your thoughts. We know that depression naturally occurs when you lose something you love. This post is about how to conquer depression from childhood and situational sadness, fear, and anger. This is a vast subject, and I know I can’t cover it sufficiently. I hope my discoveries and recovery from depression give you hope.
Why Rejection Is the Source of Depression
In my experience, the root of depression is feeling unvalued. Rejection often starts at birth and sometimes before birth. In my case, my mother became pregnant during Nursing School. She had to quit school and marry an immature man in the Navy, so he was away most of the time. The marriage was on the rocks from the very beginning. My mother wrote letters to my grandmother when she was pregnant with my sister and me while being bedridden in the hospital for three months. In those letters, she shared her frustration about my father and the trauma of being in a hospital bed for three months before we were born. She had feelings of shame and anger while pregnant, which created a hormone imbalance in both her brain and my brain.
Throughout my childhood, she was angry and depressed about her situation with my father and could not show love. Because I did not feel loved or nurtured, I developed an attachment disorder. Things improved a little when my mother became a born-again Christian; then, my father professed Christ as his Savior. Their spiritual state changed, but their behavior did not. Both my parents were still dysfunctional from their childhood rejection issues. I realized that we all need to heal our childhood family trauma before we can be mentally healthy, loving parents. I became the same parent as my mother until I healed from the traumatic memories of my childhood. Those memories generated thoughts of fear, sadness, anger, shame, and guilt that controlled my emotions and behavior, and I did not love well.
I discovered that not feeling valued or validated causes a stronghold of rejection to take hold of your mind. It keeps you focused on the events that caused the feeling of rejection, and you begin to ruminate and develop resentment. Resentful people cannot love well. I believe rejection leads to depression because we all want to feel loved and valued. So, when this expectation is not met, you feel betrayed, angry, fearful, anxious, insecure, apathetic, or, many times, pathetic. Is this something you have experienced? There is hope. In my book on this website, I write about how to be free from the stronghold of rejection and many more strongholds. Begin reading chapter one to understand the role our memories play in developing strongholds and depression. 1–Healing Begins by Transforming Painful Memories
Two Powerful Ways to Change Your Thoughts to Chase Away Depression
The most powerful treatment for depression is forgiveness. If you don’t forgive those who did not love you well, then those memories will continue to spawn sadness and depression in your life. For instance, I became depressed when my son and his wife would not make plans to visit when they came back for a wedding. They stayed with her parents, who lived five minutes away. My husband and I invited him and his wife several times for a visit, but they made up excuses. I felt rejected. I let my thoughts go to every dark corner to gather up as much self-pity as my mind could find.
Knowing that I control my thoughts, I came to my senses, went to God in prayer, and then I forgave my son for rejecting us. I also loosed the wrong thinking and a spirit of depression and rejection from my heart. Immediately, the depression was gone. Sometimes, you must do this several times when your thoughts go dark. The Bible says in Matthew 18:18, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” And 2Corinthians 10:4-5 states, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
I took captive my depressing thoughts by loosing wrong thinking from my mind and the depressed, sad feelings from my heart. Later, I called him to see what he was up to. I told him how I felt (minus the self-pity) and that visiting would be nice since we rarely see them. He and his wife came over the next day for about an hour before returning to their home state. I was thankful for that short visit.
The last way to overcome depression is harder than forgiving, and that is being thankful. The Bible encourages us to be thankful in everything, pray continually, and rejoice always (1Thes. 5:15-18). I write about this in my post, A POWERFUL MOOD CHANGER, and I encourage you to read it. Changing your thoughts to forgiveness and gratefulness keeps the spirit of depression away.
Conclusion:
Depression is different for each of us, but it often occurs when you focus on your hurt and loss. To overcome painful thoughts, change your focus by doing things that make you happy and finding things to be thankful for, like focusing on Jesus. Depression from the guilt of sin can be remedied by repentance and forgiveness. When you feel no hope, hope in the promises of God. Overcome depression from rejection by forgiving those who reject you and healing painful memories, which I describe in my book. You can alleviate depression from brain chemistry imbalance by eating a Mediterranean diet, eliminating sugar products, and exercising, which I describe in my last post. It is okay to consider an anti-depressant to correct the brain’s chemical imbalance. When I experience situational depression outside my control, I take Saint John’s Wort at night and 5HTP in the morning to help me get through the difficult time. More about that next week. Whatever type of depression you have, there is hope to get out of the pit and return to peace and joy.
RELATED POSTS:
How to Overcome Depression by God’s Power
How to Recognize and Eliminate Emotional Cancer
The Core Negative Heart Issue.
Five Steps to Heal Your Heart and Purify Your Soul
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My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of relevant promises to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.
If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.
Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles.
Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.
Hope for Complete Healing 